Arrival

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Arrival

PG-13

Released Nov 11, 2016

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

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442 Reviews

82%

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50,000+ Ratings

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

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Critics Consensus

Arrival delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

Arrival transcends the limitations that so often govern the less creative examples of the subgenre, instead using it as a loose conceptual foundation upon which to build a theoretically-informed examination of what precisely ... makes us human.

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Kristen Lopez

Culturess

Arrival couldn't have arrived (pun intended) at a better time.

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

K. Austin Collins

The Ringer

I think of Arrival in terms of color: the milky grays of the clouds rolling over the Montana plain; the bright blue of computer screens bouncing off the gray tents on the makeshift army compound.

Aug 10, 2017

Full Review

JD Duran

InSession Film

The film works as a powerful allegory for how we try to decode and interpret the tragedies of our lives.

Aug 8, 2024

Full Review

Ankit Ojha

Cinema Elite

Without spoiling too much, let’s just say Villeneuve and Heisserer use the Kuleshov effect to turn the non-linear storytelling of “Arrival” from a gimmick to an indispensable part of the film.

Rated: 4.5/5

Jul 9, 2024

Full Review

Anthony McGlynn

Vague Visages

Arrival is a work that resents the necessity of violence. However, the film ditches some of the meditative qualities of the bleakness-to-idealism dialectic of the album in favor of making a cold hard stand against war and those who clamour for it.

Feb 6, 2024

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Jonathan F

Extremely short-paced, felt like most of the movie was empty without a real driving story. I would have hoped for more action.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/22

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Katie D

An amazing film! very well-done, thought-provoking, entertaining and unpredictable. my only complaint is about the loud horn blasts that accompany so many science fiction movie scenes - unnecessary, unrealistic and distracting! other than that it was awesome!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/15/21

Full Review

Devin B

Alright, boys, Arrival is like a well-executed breakout—slow to develop, but once it clicks, it’s a beauty. Denis Villeneuve (🇨🇦 legend) delivers a smart, emotional sci-fi that’s less about alien battles and more about cracking the ultimate pre-game strategy meeting. Amy Adams absolutely lights the lamp as a linguist trying to communicate with extraterrestrials, and the story builds like a playoff run—tense, unpredictable, and with a twist that hits harder than a slapshot to the shin. It’s a thinker, but well worth the ride. Final verdict: 4 outta 5—smart, emotional, and top-shelf sci-fi. --- Deer Hair Pads Review. Follow on Facebook & Instagram.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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Vincent B

This movie, without a doubt, is a great watch and one of the most realistic cinematographic depiction of “how would you react” in a specific alien invasion context. The only kind of let down, which drags the end a little too much and breaks the flow of the pacing, is the constant flash back (flash forwards) at the end. Even though they are essential to the movie and the plot, some of them could have been smaller, depending of the degree of importance.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/22/25

Full Review

Logan D

Absolutely amazing! Not only does this movie have an amazing plot that slowly unfolds over the course of the movie; it also provides a new perspective on how an alien arrival could occur other than a conquest. This is definitely my favorite movie by far.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/22/25

Full Review

Huub B

Good movie with a very nice story. Very interesting concept but quite slow in the beginning. Which did fit in with the movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

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Denis Villeneuve

Director

Amy Adams

Louise Banks

Jeremy Renner

Ian Donnelly

Forest Whitaker

Colonel Weber

Michael Stuhlbarg

Agent Halpern

Mark O'Brien

Captain Marks

Arrival: Official Clip - The Nature of a Question

2:08

Arrival: Official Clip - Death Process

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Changed My Mind

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - Past and Present in the Future

2:06

Arrival: Official Clip - The Heptapods Speak

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Have the Weapon

1:41

Arrival: Official Clip - Sabotaged Diplomacy

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - The Many Things We Don't Know

2:10

Arrival: Official Clip - First Contact

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - A Proper Introduction

2:13

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Synopsis

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Producer: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: 21 Laps Entertainment, FilmNation, Lava Bear Films
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 2016, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 31, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.5M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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